Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

T R E 4 5 O N

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

So many bastards, so little time.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

White supremacy is terrorism.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Open Thread: I’m With Her

Open Thread: I’m With Her

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And also with these guys…

Because… really, Trumplodytes? A literal comic-book villain?

Reader Interactions

179Comments

  3. 3.

    Mike in NC

    If he ever holds a press conference, I hope some intrepid reporter asks Trump if he — like the emperors of Imperial Japan — considers himself to be a living god. I think I already know the answer.

  4. 4.

    satby

    So a person I used to think was a lovely lady is on FB right now yammering about how beautiful and classy Melania Trump looked today and her friends are mostly agreeing. She’s probably unfriended me by now, because I answered “yeah, super classy“

  9. 9.

    beth

    I think it may have been an incredibly emotional day for her and I’m furious people are giving her shit today.

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Another Scott:

    He thinks the long tie and the long jackets hide his Chris Christie belly. He’s not going to change it.

    All that gilt, all that money, all that egotism, and he apparently doesn’t even own a mirror. SAD!

  17. 17.

    satby

    I went out to President and Mrs. Obama’s foundation site, signed up and intend to donate tonight. It would be great if all the dejected people in this country each kicked in some seed money, both because it will be used for good and because it would upset the shitgibbon.

    Yep, still in the anger stage.

  18. 18.

    lamh36

    @beth: who’s giving her shit, other than folks who never gave her a chance anyway.

    All I see is folks saying…”we feel ya Michelle…gurl…we feel ya…”

  24. 24.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @satby: Me too. Just got my welcome email. I’m really hoping for a big story about a big number of sign ups.

  26. 26.

    Peale

    She will always be my first first lady. And even though I am gay, I would insert myself into her family if she wanted to dump that bum now that he’ll be too busy saving the country to be around much. I’d be a great step dad, since the children are grown and I’m mentally about their age. Think about it, Michelle.

  27. 27.

    debbie

    @satby:

    A FB friend from high school is complaining because I linked to Kellyann’s photo. How could I make fun of a successful woman? I responded that conservatives had slammed Michelle from Day 1 over her fashion choices. She came back saying she’d never heard anything about that. I’m thinking about my response, but I don’t even know where to begin.

  29. 29.

    Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)

    @lamh36: Anyone got a good way of suggesting to ABC that someone with Richard Spencer’s views should not be given airtime, unless they want a campaign like the one contacting Old Limburger’s advertisers?

  37. 37.

    Starfish

    @debbie: Can you go back into someone else’s timeline and share their posts? I would be deeply tempted to go back and look at what this person wrote in early 2009.

  40. 40.

    JPL

    @debbie: I bookmarked that so I can send it on, to the first person who praises Melania to me. I have no problem with her career, as long as you don’t criticize Michelle.

  43. 43.

    danielx

    I asked a guy today on fb (a guy who I don’t know) what, specifically, he objected to about Obama. His response was as follows; it’s like looking at things through a kaleidoscope or a funhouse mirror. My response was, roughly, well, we’ll have to agree to disagree.

    ObamaCare disaster, my premiums have gone up nearly 100% and deductibles are more expensive. Obama said they would go down which he knew was a lie at the time. Worst foreign policy President ever. The Middle East in flames, Syria, ISIS, give back on Iraq, Libya, Yemen fall, lack of respect by Russia, China building war islands. Release of GITMO terrorists more than half of which are known to have returned to the fight to kill more Americans. Worst economic recovery of any President – never reaching more that 2% GDP growth. Worst labor participation rate since 1970, 95 million+ Americans between the ages of 16-65 NOT working, 45 million more Americans on food stamps in last 8 years. National debt up from $9 trillion from all previous Presidents to $20 trillion more that 100% increase in just 8 years. 100% more police killed in the line of duty this year than last year. More racial division than at any time in my life. More illegal immigration than at any point in history fueled by Obama’s executive order where the Border Patrol were forced to stand down and not enforce America’s border and immigration laws. The Obama Administration suing the Little Sisters of the Poor forcing them to perform abortions against their constitutional right of religious liberty. I could keep going, but won’t. Obama was an exceptionally poor President and will go down in history as such, with the one exception that he was the first African-American President, which was a step forward for a Obama ran on being post-racial which would have

  45. 45.

    p.a.

    @efgoldman: @Baud: selective perception and retention. eventually, as the southern conservatives representing seashore districts have to deal with rising sea levels, I imagine them saying it’s just a little more humid than normal *gurgle*.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @danielx:

    The Obama Administration suing the Little Sisters of the Poor forcing them to perform abortions against their constitutional right of religious liberty.

    He also forced them to gay marry, right?

  47. 47.

    JPL

    @danielx: Wow .. I’ll have to tell my friends that the Little Sisters of the Poor perform abortions. Good luck for they guy though, his health care bill will go down. He won’t have any.

  51. 51.

    satby

    @JPL: I don’t care about her career, or that she formerly was an escort IIRC, but all the gushing about how classy, classy, classy?? Apparently as opposed to a classy void the last 8 years?
    Melania is white, that’s the unspoken subtext; so I just wanted to push their bs into their face for the few seconds that my reply probably lasted before it was deleted.
    They can try to rewrite history, but we don’t have to let them get away with it.

  52. 52.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @danielx: I heard a guy on NPR’s On Point today, getting all worked up and finally spitting out that Obama had caused more racial division, etc. The host asked if he could give one concrete example. The guy was fairly spluttering about Obama’s comment on Trayvon Martin, which Obama made on the first day of the trial (I know that’s not true) and said it caused all kinds of violence in Florida– I know Obama didn’t cause any, and I genuinely don’t remember any violence associated with the demos about Trayvon Martin.

    I’ve known a lot of racists in my life. I can pick apart a lot of what they say. This obsession with Obama pointing out that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon, and it being divisive just fucking baffles me.

  56. 56.

    Ohio Mom

    @debbie: I doubt your friend will ever believe that insults were ever thrown at Michelle, even if you googled dozens of examples. The tack I would take is, today was a solemn day and Kelleyann’s outfit did not show any sense of decorum. It was too playful and too loud. Also, she is a supporting player, it is not her role to upstage and pull attention from the new first couple. Let your friend begin to entertain the idea that at least one of these people she admires has shown bad judgement. Plant a little seed.

    Now I personally thought that outfit did nothing for her. And her shoes looked like they’d seen better days. But I can imagine there could be an occasion where such a silly outfit would be appropriate, not that I could name one.

    Meanwhile, there was Mrs. Pence in a way too tight SLEEVELESS dress.

  57. 57.

    ThresherK

    @lamh36: Perhaps Melania’s thinking “He’s a Marine? I thought he was one of the help. The doorman?”

    I have heard enough about how the Trumps treat “the little people”. Now they have a big passel of “little people” to boss around.

  64. 64.

    debbie

    @Ohio Mom:

    Nah, couldn’t be that adult. I did leave Melania out of it, but I went with this:

    (name), I don’t know how you couldn’t have been aware of it. From Day One, Michelle Obama was criticized for wearing sleeveless dresses by women who themselves always wear sleeveless dresses (Laura Ingrahm, Anne Coulter to name two), and she was criticized for her tush. I heard women at Tea Party rallies call her a monster and criticize her for cheapening the Office of the First Lady. She was called a gorilla by a state GOP official (either Kansas or Missouri, I believe), and she was not too long ago called an ape in heels by a WV nonprofit organization director (female) who lost her job and then got it back again. It has been constant, and I’m sorry if you think making fun of a poor fashion choice is rude, but as we’ve seen, taking the high road gets you nowhere in this country anymore. I (and I don’t think I’m alone) won’t be suckered into taking the high road again.

  67. 67.

    cbear

    –I haven’t kept up with the comments today–but has anyone mentioned the weird-as-shit way Trump interacts with his son Barron? Aside from just seeming generally oblivious to his presence, he doesn’t seem to ever touch the kid even when they are in close proximity.
    I inadvertently clicked on the wrong channel and ended up seeing 3-4 minutes of today’s shitshow—just as the Cheetolini Family were taking their seats for the parade—and Trump literally squeezed by his sitting son as if the kid had scabies or Ebola or something. A few minutes later he kind of bent over to talk to the kid, but, again, he seemed to not want to touch him.
    It was really quite striking.

    Thinking back, I think I noticed the same thing after the debates when the families would come on stage and he never seemed to pay any attention whatsoever to the kid.
    Has anyone else noticed this?

  68. 68.

    ThresherK

    @efgoldman: Nah, it’s a reverse Dorian Grey.

    Somewhere on the second floor of the WH there is a portrait of Donald Trump getting younger and more handsome with every passing month.

  71. 71.

    CaseyL

    @satby: I signed up, too! Really looking forward to seeing what the Obamas do with their Foundation. The “idea” I contributed was to encourage civic engagement from the local level up – hardly new or novel, but always a good starting point.

  74. 74.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: Violence can be a very effective method of ending conflict. When used at the right time in the right amount.

  76. 76.

    NeenerNeener

    It occurred to me today that Conway is getting credit for getting That Filthy Pig elected when she really was just in the right place at the right time. She was Ted Cruz’s campaign manager first; if she really deserved the reputation she’s got now Cruz would have knocked That Filthy Pig out in the primaries when she was advising him.

  79. 79.

    Michael Bersin

    I kid you not, this, a little after 11:00 a.m. today in Warrensburg, Missouri where a dozen people staged a “Funeral for Democracy” on the east side of the Johnson County Courthouse:

    SUV Driver: [honks horn] What’s that say in Spanish?
    Show Me Progress: What?
    SUV Driver: What’s it say in Spanish? What [inaudible]
    Show Me Progress: That sign?
    SUV Driver: Yeah.
    Show Me Progress: It’s Russian.
    SUV Driver: Okay.
    Show Me Progress: It says, make America great again, in Russian.
    SUV Driver: I agree.

    We’re freakin’ doomed.

    Funeral for Democracy – Warrensburg – January 20, 2017

  80. 80.

    EBT

    @cbear: It’s well known that deadbeat donnie is a germophobe and that his interaction with Uday and Qusay was limited to after they turned 18. They probably factually know very little about each other, because chances are the tiny fingered vulgarian is the sort of father who thinks that raising the children is the mother’s job. And he only really cares about them when they can make him money, or chubbies.

  86. 86.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @satby:

    The shock and torpor wore off about two weeks ago, and not only am I angry, I’m righteously angry and getting angrier by the day. I was just blessed today on one of my FB posts by someone I never hear from, for my righteous anger. Anger means we’re alive and standing.

  87. 87.

    JPL

    @Chet Murthy: I actually said to a friend who is part of the one percent but is also black tonight, that you can choose to be uninformed, because you can support your sons. Unfortunately, most can’t.
    She has convinced herself that the republicans will stop him from destroying health care and social security.
    Maybe it was a friend because the conversation did not end well.

  88. 88.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: You need to read the comments at Free Republic or the different firearm websites and blogs or Breitbart or Daily Stormer or Stormfront. For the people that comment there, and the people that read that stuff, but don’t comment, it is an article of faith that President Obama hates white people, purposely tried to foment a race war, in every post dealing with an African-American teen getting shot there are always multiple comments about them being Obama’s sons, same when the African-American is the shooter or the shoplifter or insert crime here. Every one of those commutations for the non-violent drug offenders was presented and discussed by these folks as President Obama releasing African Americans that had committed violent crimes with firearms – that he was putting them back on the streets where they’d prey on law abiding white people. I’ve seen lawyers either write this in front page posts or write this in comments! That’s where this is coming from.

  89. 89.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @schrodingers_cat: They are upset that other people dare to be upset, or even don’t see Trump as the greatest president ever. This is just pure mass insanity.

  90. 90.

    NeenerNeener

    @cbear: I don’t think he’s terribly fond of any of his sons. It’s most noticeable because he’s got his hands all over his daughter all the time.

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    No reporting on whether a pardon for Christie was among the sheaf of papers signed today.

    Not if Jared had anything to say about it.

  95. 95.

    Tazj

    I just turned on CNN for a moment and was informed by John King that Trump was the only politician that could have given that inaugural address today. This is because Trump called out both Republicans and Democrats for enriching themselves at the expense of the American people. This is our media.

  96. 96.

    Larkspur

    Eww, first dance at Liberty Ball, Melania is being steered around by a lumbering orange dude, to the song “My Way”. Mrs. Pence looks nice in her blue gown, but jeepers what a cavalcade of weirdness. Time to head to Netflix. I need me some Luke Cage.

  100. 100.

    danielx

    @Baud: @JPL:

    Yeah. I didn’t take time to refute all this point by point; he’d clearly been saving up bile for a long time. 95 million unemployed? Well, that does include full time students, retirees, those not working by choice (stay at home moms/dads) etc etc. Chaos in the middle east? Agreed, but ) one George W Bush might have had a teensy bit to do with it, and 2) what, precisely, would he have Obama do differently – would he want HIS kid(s) over in that shithole?

    And so forth…you get the idea. Wonder if he’ll think the same a year from now. Actually I am sure he will, since nothing is EVER Donald Trump’s fault and nothing a Republican does is ever wrong. As always, conservatism cannot fail, it can only BE failed.

  102. 102.

    Chet Murthy

    @JPL: I don’t mean this to sound as harsh as it’s going to sound, but:

    I’m brown. As in: most black Americans are not as dark-skinned as me. And of South Asian descent (came here at age 4). And from a relatively privileged socio-economic background. And even I figured out pretty quick that the granny-starvers only wanted to do one thing: starve granny. I know it’s a little bit racist of me to expect that other PoC should understand these things, and it’s a little bit *less* racist, to think that well-educated, well-off PoC should understand these things, but for the life of me, I don’t understand it:

    HOW can these idiots (morons? assholes? what?) think that the Rs are gonna do anything other than starve granny? And HOW can they get to where they are in life, and never heard Niemoller’s words (“first the came …”).

    Part of me wants to say that they’re all sociopaths, b/c I want to believe that nobody could be that stupid and still become well-off or well-educated.

    Again: I realize that it’s somewhat racist of me to expect PoC to be “better” than white Americans in this regard. I realize that to be not-racist, is to allow that PoC can be just as fucked-up as any cracker-ass high-school dropout from my hometown in Texas. I realize that to be not-misogynist, is to believe that Kellyanne Conway has a right to be the execrable excuse for a human being that she is, without hating her. But crikey, we’re not all perfect, and I can’t manage it.

  103. 103.

    Ohio Mom

    @cbear: Yes, I commented on this on an earlier, and just about dead thread. Specifically that Barron’s half-siblings studiously ignore him.

    At the signing ceremony, Barron tried to play peek-a-boo with the baby on Ivanka’s hip. As soon as it looked like the baby was enjoying him/herself, Ivanka moved him/her to her other hip, away from Barron, without a glance at Barron.

    I also commented that there is some speculation that Barron is on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum. As an autism mom who has see plenty of people give my kid the cold shoulder because he’s hard to engage with, I can’t help but wonder if that is at least part of what is going on.

    Whatever is going on, it is creepy and cruel. Par for the course for Trumps.

  104. 104.

    debit

    @lamh36: Weird. I’d unfollowed the POTUS account last night and found myself following it again today. I unfollowed and blocked it, then found myself following it yet again. Just unfollowed for the third time and if it comes back, I’ll just delete my fucking twitter.

  105. 105.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @cbear:

    Has anyone else noticed this?

    I did, and commented on it at some length in a thread one or two levels down. Will see if I can find it and link. Shorter: Everything about Barron seems to be detached and unengaged and unhealthy. He’s about the age of, I believe, Malia Obama when her dad first became POTUS, but the contrast between them in affect is remarkable. He invariably looks as though he’d give a year’s allowance to be anywhere else.

  106. 106.

    ThresherK

    @GregB: I love the Great American Songbook, but that is one of the lesser, lesser songs Sinatra is known for.

    It was originally a French song about the troubles in a marriage, and Paul Anka fashioned a set of English lyrics to it. For me it goes on the very crowded shelf of “French things that shouldn’t be remade in English”.

  108. 108.

    JPL

    @Chet Murthy: My friend’s husband was raised in SC and with the help of scholarships and friends at the time, he was able to achieve great things. Discrimination was the law of the land, and at the time in SC democrats were in control. He never understood the change that occurred. His wife and my friend doesn’t have that excuse. She chooses to be uninformed.

  109. 109.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Crooked numbers! Lies! Sad!

    Dan Gross
    ‏@ DanJGross
    Crowd count is in:
    Trump 2017: 250,000
    Obama 2013: 1,000,000
    Obama 2009: 1,800,000
    #Inauguration

  110. 110.

    amk

    turns out the turn out was hardly 250k. some bbc woman was yammering about yoooge 900k turnout just before the shitshow. fuck you, bbc.

  111. 111.

    JPL

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m going to issue a contradictory statement, children should be left alone, but in this case there could be a reason that Trump is an anti-vaxxer

  112. 112.

    EBT

    @Ohio Mom: He raises his kids with the idea that his job with them starts when they are 18. I wouldn’t be surprised if the older kids are gonna be doing that too.

  115. 115.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ohio Mom:

    I also commented that there is some speculation that Barron is on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum.

    Hmmm. That’s very interesting. Now I have to do a little research and see just what it was that DJT said (during the GOP debates) about vaccines and autism. That might shed some light.

  119. 119.

    Tazj

    @SiubhanDuinne: I feel badly for him. I don’t know if you ever read Digby, but she commented on her Twitter feed that it must be hard for him to be so tall and look like he’s 14 but actually be a 10 year old. I have a 10 year old boy myself. I hope he gets lots of love and affirmation from his mom.

  120. 120.

    Bupalos

    @Mike in NC: Threw my head back and laughed! Honestly the hardest laugh I’ve had in a couple years. Probably because it is 90% hilarity and also 90% travesty, so like a 180% laugh. Thank you.

  122. 122.

    Jeffro

    What would be the Trump-insulting equivalent of a Purple Heart band-aid that one might wear now and then? Asking for a friend…

  123. 123.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Tazj: Apparently he and his mom are very close. From the reporting the intention to stay in NY and at their apartments in Trump Tower is to 1) keep him in his current school till, at least, the end of this school year and 2) protect him from all the press and media etc around covering a first family with a school age child.

  124. 124.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ohio Mom:

    I also commented that there is some speculation that Barron is on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum.

    Interesting, had not considered that. If it’s true, it could explain some of T’s views on vaccines, expressed during the early GOP debates. (Will have to go back and do some checking to refresh my memory on exactly what he said, but IIRC he drew a bright line between vaxx and autism. So perhaps based on personal experience?)

  127. 127.

    Bupalos

    @Tazj: Thank you. You know, I’ve been thinking about the images of that little guy today, and thinking he just looks like evil spawn. That sneering lip, disaffected aspect, and spoiled rotten vibe. Like the piece of crap that is going to be lording it over my little girls in 35 years.

    And honestly, that’s probably what he is.

    But I feel really bad for thinking that. He’s a 10-year old little guy that wants to have fun and learn and the potential for good is unlimited. Your comment made me remember that.

    Good luck, little guy! Don’t be them. Just look at your mother, she knows, she hates every ?@#!ing minute of what’s happening here.

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Adam L Silverman: I had to bite my virtual tongue today from making a cheap joke about the kid. I suspect he has very little to do with his father and vice versa. I also find myself feeling oddly sympathetic toward Tiffany– based mostly on my recently corrected belief that she was a recent high school grad, but I understand now she’s 22 or so and a college grad. Still– I get the feeling she is very much made to feel her at best secondary status around the Golden Princess.

  132. 132.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tazj:

    I feel badly for him.

    Yes, every time I see him my heart just breaks for him. Poor kid.

    I don’t know if you ever read Digby, but she commented on her Twitter feed that it must be hard for him to be so tall and look like he’s 14 but actually be a 10 year old.

    I read Hullabaloo every day, but don’t use Twitter at all so had missed that comment of Digby’s. When I saw the video of Barron today at the inauguration, I was stunned at how tall he’s grown in just 10 weeks or so. On election night he looked like a little kid, but he appears several inches taller now. That age can be agony all on its own, but given the spotlight, disruption, family dysfunction, and the awkwardness of crazed hormones, he must just want to crawl into a cave for the next few years. Poor kid.

  133. 133.

    goblue72

    @lamh36: Saw that today. Wouldn’t call it veiled. He is dog-whistling so loud you could hear it in Patagonia. Its going to be a long, hard, and even dangerous 4 years for anyone protesting the Trump Administration, and doubly so for anyone non-white protesting.

    I think I need to drop some coin for Rev. Barber’s Moral Mondays.

  135. 135.

    goblue72

    @Bupalos: Unfortunately, not likely. Just look at Trump’s two older sons. Straight up evil villains from a bad 1980s movie. They make Patrick Bateman look sympathetic.

  137. 137.

    Another Scott

    @Jeffro: Call Donnie a failure. He doesn’t like that.

    Wikipedia:

    6 Bankruptcies
    +
    USFL
    +
    Tour de Trump
    +
    Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA
    +
    Trump Model Management
    +
    Trump University
    +
    all the lawsuits
    +
    all the rest
    ————————————-
    Colossal Failure

    Someone with plenty of time on their hands should set up a server in Switzerland or someplace and just do a real-time list of his failures, lawsuits, and all the rest. It might take a yooge team though…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  140. 140.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: @Adam L Silverman: I wonder if he thinks it’s like hiring architects or golf course designers for a resort. “Find out who’s the best in town”, or “fly in So-And-So from New York”.

  141. 141.

    SectionH

    @lamh36: Thanks for the heads up.

    @debit: And thanks for the follow-up. Sure enough, after having unfollowed the Trump POTUS account this morning, when I checked just now, I was following it again. Grrrr…

  142. 142.

    Ohio Mom

    @SiubhanDuinne: Trump has also famously said that genes are very, very important, and he (of course) has great genes. It could be hard for him to square having great genes with having a son with a genetically-based neurological difference.

    I also remember him saying he’s seen kids become autistic after getting vaccinated, which doesn’t match up with his policy of ignoring anyone under the age of majority (did you see him at the signing ceremony? His toddler and preschool-aged grandkids were squirming at his side. It looked like he wanted to swat them away like they were misquitos).

    Anyway, blaming vaccines lets him keep his great gene theory.

  143. 143.

    ThresherK

    Currently need a distraction, so I’m gorging on a BBC series, “Howard Goodall’s Story of Music”.

    I am a sucker for an English accent on highbrow history. Thanks for asking!

  144. 144.

    Mary G

    Let’s lay off Barron Trump until he turns 18. He was playing peek-a-boo with Ivanka’s baby while the hideous executive orders were being signed and it was cute. He was smiling and everything.

    Malia and Sasha were mostly allowed to be kids and he deserves the same.

  145. 145.

    Peale

    @Adam L Silverman: so what happens if he just fills 3,000 positions and just doesn’t follow any rules at all? Like a guy shows up and says I’m now this agency head and everyone in the bureau knows he hasn’t been confirmed by Congress or has any clearance or even had his name written down on a list. But he says he’s the boss now. Does security arrest him? Or do staff just pretend it’s normal. If that’s the case, why don’t I just show up to work at commerce monday and claim I’m now the boss?

  149. 149.

    cbear

    @Ohio Mom: Yes, I’ve seen the speculation regarding Barron having some sort of disability/disorder, and have also noticed his seemingly odd affect. I feel very sorry for the kid.

    Regarding another comment mentioning Trump’s supposed germaphobia: It’s interesting that Ferret-Boy is very touchy-feely with some people and not others. Aside from Ivanka, and I think we all know what that’s about, he seems quite eager to engage Pres. Obama at every opportunity, including repeatedly shaking his hand and clapping his shoulder, etc.–as he did today and has in the past. And, from an alpha male type perspective, it’s Trump that always looks needy and seeking approval.

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yep.

  150. 150.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The issue appears to be that they got a very late start. And the transition leads are not in charge of personnel. And the folks doing the personnel stuff are split. Based on reporting the top line positions are being approved or rejected by Bannon and Kushner and to some extent Flynn for Defense and Intel Community spots. The lower level positions are being done by others. But from what I’ve read the Never Trumpers are out, as are many of their proteges (even if they didn’t take a stand), so that eliminates almost the entire GOP/conservative foreign, defense, and national security policy professionals, including the really senior ones. My understanding is that Democrats/Center Left/Left of Center are also not going to be considered. So this leaves precious few people with any actual experience – either in working in these departments and agencies, doing these jobs, or knowing how these departments, agencies, and jobs work.

    So what they’re doing is something adopted and adapted from what the Romney team had planned: having a drop in team of temps to do station keeping. These were called beachheads, but my understanding is that for the Romney folks these would most likely be the folks that were going to get these jobs because they were from the GOP/conservative foreign, defense, and/or national security policy professional crowd. This does not seem to be the case here. I do expect that DOD and DHS will get better starting Monday now that Mattis and Kelly are confirmed.

  151. 151.

    hilts

    Trump Promised to Resign From His Companies — But There’s No Record He’s Done So

    ProPublica looked at more than a dozen of Trump’s largest companies, which are registered or incorporated in three states. Officials in New York and Delaware said documents are logged as soon as they are received. In Florida, officials told us there is typically a day or two before documents are logged into the system.

    Here is what we found:

    Business filings for Trump Organization LLC, Trump’s primary holding company, had not been changed, according to New York’s Department of State. Wollman Rink Operations LLC, which runs the Wollman Rink in Central Park through an agreement with New York City, hasn’t been updated either. Trump is listed as the sole authorized representative of the company.

    Ivanka Trump is still listed as the authorized officer on records for two entities related to the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., which the Trump family bought and turned into a hotel. No changes have been filed for either of the companies, which are registered in Delaware.

    h/t https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-promised-to-resign-from-his-companies-but-no-record-hes-done-so

  154. 154.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Peale: 690 positions require Senatorial confirmation. 661 have yet to be named. The rest (3,310) don’t. My understanding is also that the folks that are supposed to start at the White House on Monday don’t have badges and won’t be allowed in because the transition never submitted the paperwork, which was required 10 days ago. The FBI and Secret Service is not going to budge on that. So a lot of folks are either going to have to stand in line every morning to get a visitor’s badge and every evening to return it or they’re not going to work on Monday.

    You don’t enter Federal workspaces without authorization. You do not handle classified information without a clearance and need to know. If you’re info isn’t in JPASS, you’re going to have trouble.

  157. 157.

    Tazj

    @Bupalos: Well, I was hoping that the real reason Hillary Clinton went to the Inauguration was that she was going to go all Black Widow (Marvel) on Trump and end up locking him up. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

  158. 158.

    Ruckus

    @debbie:

    I’m thinking about my response, but I don’t even know where to begin.

    Yes it is difficult to hear the truth if your head is up your ass.

  161. 161.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @EBT:

    She isn’t in his will, if that tells you anything.

    No offence at all, and you may well be correct, but how could you possibly know that?

  163. 163.

    sukabi

    @JPL: why on earth would she think that when it’s been the repubs goal for the last 6+ years to kill aca, medicare, Medicaid and as.

  164. 164.

    Mike G

    https://theintercept.com/2017/01/20/on-his-first-day-in-office-trump-raises-taxes-on-middle-class-homebuyers/

    The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday reversed a scheduled 0.25 percent cut in mortgage insurance premiums issued by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). For a mortgage worth $200,000, this adds $500 to a homebuyer’s annual costs.

    If the Dems aren’t out pounding the table to draw attention to this blatant crony-fuckery in favor of banks, they don’t deserve power.

    The silver lining is this just cost my Trump-voting jerk co-worker about $1200 a year.

  165. 165.

    Tazj

    @Tazj: In all seriousness, very, very, lame joke aside, I was glad to see Hillary again conducting herself with grace and dignity at the ceremony.

  166. 166.

    lamh36

    @micamaryjane
    Also, before trump took it over the potus account had a little over 11 million followers, as of about an hour ago trump had 14 #followergate

  168. 168.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Lizzy L: They’re all rooted in the Federal Code with statutory and regulatory backing. Trying to end run the requirements and processes for clearances and access will get ugly real quick.

  169. 169.

    sukabi

    @cbear: if he was a genuine germaphobe he wouldn’t be grabbing strange pu$$y or sticking his tongue down unsuspecting women’s throats…and he most certainly wouldn’t be any where near a piss parade…

    He’s an asshole that uses germs to get out of doing things he doesn’t want to do.

  171. 171.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @lamh36: I just checked and I was following Melania Trump, First Lady* so I unfollowed right quick. Fuck that shit. Thanks for telling me to look.

  173. 173.

    Jilli Brown

    @Mike in NC: I give each him 3 months before trumps sporting a spiffy new uniform with all kinds of medals and lots of gold braid. Oh,and a much better hat.

    Just wait and see…

  174. 174.

    TriassicSands

    The photo of Obama and Michelle with the Trumps may say a lot about why she might have been a better president than Barack. He’s just too friendly with people who hold him in utter contempt and seek to undo his entire presidency. If there is such a thing as “too decent,” I’m afraid Barack is that.

    The photo is useful for another reason. Barack Obama is 6’1″ tall. In this photo he’s leaning a bit, so not standing up straight. Trump is standing up straight. Obama is just as tall as the supposedly 6’3″ Trump, who conveniently and unexpectedly grew an inch in his seventieth year in order to make him seem merely overweight when, in fact, he’s obese. Six two looks like it would be a stretch for Trump if Obama really is six one. There is no way that OBESE DONNIE is two inches taller than Obama.

    Let’s see:
    6’1″ 236 lbs. (probably a lie) = BMI 31.1 OBESE
    6’2″ 236 lbs. (still a lie) = BMI 30.3 STILL OBESE
    6’3″ 236 lbs. (ditto) = BMI 29.5 OVERWEIGHT

    I’d be willing to bet that Trump is 6’1″ and 250 pounds, which puts him squarely in the obese range. BMI = 33.0

    Trump better hope he doesn’t put on any more weight as president. It’s going to hard to explain how a 71-year-old man grew another inch. On the other hand, I think the 236 pounds is most likely a lie, too. No surprise there.

  175. 175.

    columbusqueen

    @Ohio Mom: Reportedly Ivana’s three can’t stand Melania; the way they treat Barron seems to be a public tell that’s the truth.
    ‘

  177. 177.

    evodevo

    @debbie: No surprise … my Fixed News-viewing co-workers and acquaintances rarely know ANYTHING about the rabid winger noise machine, or claim not to, anyway.

  178. 178.

    evodevo

    @danielx: Yes. This. I have gotten this out of virtually every Trump voter I have talked to. AND of course they believed EVERY lie about Hitlery, too. This is where the right wing noise machine being unchecked for 30 years has gotten us.

  179. 179.

    Debbie1

    @cbear: In Trump’s defense, why should he touch Barron? He’s not a teenage girl. It’s the kid’s own fault for not being Ivanka.

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